The year 2020 came and as a norm, people had different resolutions and hopes for the year. For graduates, they hoped to at least secure a job, attachment or internship. For students in their final years, they hoped to get done with school and have a taste of life outside their normal. Having completed campus in late September 2019, I had hopes and plans for the year 2020. However, the pandemic struck ( COVID-19) and this part of the world( Africa) wasn’t spared either.
Due to the nature of the disease and how fast it spreads, certain measures had to be implemented to contain the contagion such as curfews, lockdowns, movement cessations etc. This certainly affected the economy. People lost their jobs. Others who hoped to at least secure jobs that year lost hope. Being one of the individuals who became disappointed with the year 2020 I didn’t lose hope. November 2020 came and through a good friend, I secured an Internship at Green-Kenya.
The pandemic demanded people to work from home and thanks to modern technology, that worked. For Green-Kenya, we have workplace and Green-Kenya email which allows colleagues to communicate, post updates, interact with each other remotely, and hold meetings online without having to travel or meeting physically overcoming geographical barriers, What a time to be alive!
However, despite working online, it was required for us ( Green-Kenya team) to meet at least once a week physically. That was not much of a hustle for me, if anything; it was an opportunity to meet other members whom I had not met while working with Green-Kenya. Furthermore, it gave me a chance to present to the team what my tasks for the week were, what I had achieved and what I hoped to achieve in the coming week. Also, that was a chance to ask for clarity from my supervisor for what was not clear.
Talking of my work experience, G-K gave me an avenue to practically employ theoretical knowledge gained on matters concerning work places such as Ethics, integrity, honesty, time management, adaptability, flexibility etc. Being an intern in this organization, I got the chance to apply the mentioned skills for instance, work flexibility; I could handle assignments out of my job description.
Although I was not able to meet rather interact with the children through the various activities i.e tournaments, I am glad and happy that I was able to come up with quite a number of materials that would help the children and the organization generally. Being the first Intern at G-K, am proud and happy to say that I enjoyed my experience, it wouldn’t have been any better. All thanks to the entire G-K team. I look forward to many more interactions with the organization now and in future.
Blog written by:
Cheryl Chepkurui
Intern at Green-Kenya
